United States Power Squadrons??

[Fisherdave67]

Can anyone tell me more about the United States Power Squadron?
What do they do?
How can i join?

 

[OldePharte]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

According to their web site -

"Organized in 1914, USPS is a non profit, educational organization dedicated to making boating safer and more enjoyable by teaching classes in seamanship, navigation and related subjects. Our members are boating families who contribute to their communities by promoting safe boating through education. We enjoy participating with our fellow members on the water and in the classroom. USPS has some 45,000 members organized into 450 squadrons across the country and in some US territories. USPS is America's largest non-profit boating organization and has been honored by three US presidents for its civic contributions.

What are the activities of USPS
Each squadron's activities involve the three primary objectives of USPS: community service, continuing education, and enjoying the friendship and camaraderie of our fellow members"

Go to http://www.usps.org/, then select "Find Things" and put in your zip code.

The wife and I both took the boating safety course and it was very good. I highly recommend it.

 

[Fisherdave67]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

Great, thank you

 

[ziggy]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

i was a usps member for 5 years i think. it was a good enough experience. though i'll say that my squadron was somewhat disorganized. i wanted to take the classes they offered. i took several and learned much. i took boater safety, seamanship, weather, engine maint. piloting and ended with advance piloting. jr. nav. was next but it took them a year + to get around to offering it. by that time, i'd forgot what i learned in adv. piloting + had lost interest do to no where to navigate or pilot for that matter on the local lakes in the middle of the usa in a cornfield. also, no one knew any more about navigation than i did, so the whole class including the teacher were learn as you go. from books. not that books are bad, their good. but practical experience would have been better.

i don't know what happened to my squadron. there were maybe 25 folks in my safety class. maybe 12 in the seamanship. then it went to 4 or 5 for the other classes. 3 in adv. piloting, 2 of us passed.

i was hoping for comradeship when i joined. maybe even finding others to boat with. that didn't work out for me. i was the only one in my squadron with a boat. others had had boats, but when i left. only me and one other guy had a boat. of the 6 that attended meetings. i personally had issue with distance too. i had to go to omaha to the meeting. i'm in lincoln, 50 miles away.

while i learned a lot, in the end, the disorganization + lack of some real salts to tell me the facts kinda let me down. for me, it was also funds that clinched it for dropping out.

i would recommend them though. they've nothing but safe boating and learning boating in mind. i think i was just my particular squadron that was lacking. if i did it over, i suppose i'd consider the uscg aux. next time. my concern with them is just the opposite of the usps though. best info i can get from the research i've done is that the aux. is much more rigid than the power squadron... i don't know if that's good or not...

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

Like most such organizations, I think the value of what is offered is a direct function of the particular chapter joined. My experience with PS has been via others who have taken the courses, but they have spoken highly of them. That said, they were in areas where there where lots of "old salts" around!

 

[OldePharte]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

After we took the course, we were impressed enough to want to be more involved. I asked for information of how to join. "We'll send you some material." So we get our certificates of completion, no other information. So I write to the local honcho, and got no reply.

Oh well. We tried. But, your experience may differ, and hopefully it will.

 

[ziggy]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

maybe it's an inland water thing oldepharte. not much water around the midwest to be tring out new skills learned in the classes..

So I write to the local honcho, and got no reply.

well, at least you weren't a dues paying member and got no reply. when i didn't pay my dues last year, i thought i might hear from them as to why i'd not paid (which was a purely a decision i made for financial reasons). nope, not a word. the whole year went by and just recently i got a dues letter again. at the very least the treasure of my squadron is hip that i've quit. he stuffed a pre made out statement from headquarters of usps that told me they needed my dues to support usps activities.... not one word from my commander. not a call, not a letter, not a email. like i'd never been a part of it. that kinda hurt my feelings. i thought i was friends with the few that were a part of the squadron. but i guess only my money was missed...

fisherdave, don't let my negative comments suede you from contacting them. i really do think they are a respectable organization mostly. just disorganized (at least my squadron). like i said, their main goal is boater education. and they do have good classes available.. i really learned a lot from them. i also had fun while i was going too. i'd guess the squadrons closer to the coast will have much better attendance with better organization..

 

[Fisherdave67]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

I've signed up for the Basic Boating Safety Course. It's nine weeks long every Monday evening 7:30 - 9:30. I've been told that I will learn cool things like charting and compass reading. Being that I'm an inland lake fisherman, I may not use it much, I'm still interested in learning it.

 

[OldePharte]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

I've signed up for the Basic Boating Safety Course. It's nine weeks long every Monday evening 7:30 - 9:30. I've been told that I will learn cool things like charting and compass reading. Being that I'm an inland lake fisherman, I may not use it much, I'm still interested in learning it.

Charting and compass reading could assist in locating the fishing hotspots the old fashion way. Who needs GPS? Just triangulate the readings. I don't fish so it didn't help much.

Actually, the only thing that they taught, that we had no practical application was the sailing chapter. So I thought. As we have numerous sailboats, it gave me an appreciation of what those blowboaters need to do while under way or to tack.

So, I kinda like that high school chemistry course that I had to take, and thought it had no real world application. Well, I was wrong. Learn everthing they throw at you. Confused - ask questions. And oh, brush up on your Boy Scout knot tying.

 

[Fisherdave67]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

Knot tying, awesome, how did you know I'm an ex Scoutmaster, twice retired?

 

[OldePharte]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

Knot tying, awesome, how did you know I'm an ex Scoutmaster, twice retired?

Hey if you boat long enough, ya need to know knots.

But then I spent 6 years in the Navy, learned some from the deck apes, was advancement chairman of our scout troop, so I learned a just about everyone in the book.

Not that ever needed it, but I did learn how to tie a one handed bowline. Don't know if I could do it now or not (need to see about that tomorrow), but it was to supposed to come in handy if handing on to a rope and need to tie a knot to get rescued.

 

[Fisherdave67]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

One handed bowline?
Never heard of it, do you lay the rope on something (or your thigh, if your hanging by the same rope) and go up, around, and down, carefully with one hand?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

Coast Guard Auxillary is also good.

 

[OldePharte]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

One handed bowline?
Never heard of it, do you lay the rope on something (or your thigh, if your hanging by the same rope) and go up, around, and down, carefully with one hand?

You hold the live part in one hand, take the bitter end in the other hand, decide how much of a loop is needed, then start up the rope where the knot will be and yes, one goes around under, etc. pulling hand back through to form the bowline.

My daughter, in girl scouts, took a 12 month long winter survival course. Although she wound up teaching part of the course, the troop leader's son-in-law (the instructor) was into low impact camping, survival training, etc. and taught me the knot. Locally, the GS had a much better camping skill program than the boy scouts. My daughter was a repell master at 12 while the BS wouldn't let the boys to repell; too dangerous. Could have changed though by now.

 

[Fisherdave67]

Re: United States Power Squadrons??

Wow, not as easy as I thought it was going to be, I'll practice.
My troop never got into repelling, but from what I remember
If you didn?t belong to a mega troop almost everything was
out of reach regarding the many requirements needed to partake
in an outdoor adventure (not even a high adventure activity).
My last two sons had a good time with Scouting, I pushed the
third, (eldest) he quit. Now all three are grown, gone with
families of their own. We get together from time to time, camp
out, partake in a compass race, maybe a scoutmaster tee
competition. Scouting was good for my family, my three sons
know what family honor is.